>> thousands of israelis pay their final respects to the former prime minister ariel sharon. >> plus a chemical leak - chemical investigators descend on west virginia as new details emerge on the toxic spill. >> the u.n. calls for calm in the central african republic. >> trophy hunting, putting animals on display is wrong to do >> outcry and anger in texas over the right to kill endangered black rhinos. [ ♪ music ]

>> good morning to you. welcome to al jazeera america. i'm morgan radford live from new york city. >> thousands of mourners say goodbye to former israeli prime minister ariel sharon. his body will lie in state and monday will be laid to rest at his family farm in israel. dignitaries are expected to attend the journal and vice president joe biden will lead a delegation from the united states. nick schifrin joins us live from jerusalem. walk us through the next few hours and days leading up to ariel sharon's funeral. what protocol will be observed according to jewish law? >> what you are seeing now is the equivalent of ariel sharon laying in state behind me. that is the coffin and these are the visitors. behind me is the israeli knesset, the parliament, the closest they have to the u.s. congress. what you see is ariel sharon

laying in state, being given the honours that a former prime minister, general, as decorated as he is is given here. he will lay in state for the next few hours. tomorrow morning will be a service with the prime minister, and he'll be taken to southern israel to his farm. israel generally buries its prime ministers and generals on mt hu r r -- hurtzel but the family want him buried on the farm in the family plot. >> how are the reactions on the ground there? >> we have talked about the mourning and the sympathy. we are not seeing huge crowds. look behind me, that's all that is here. maybe 300, 400 maximum who have come in since the coffin was brought here. it's interesting to point out that we talked about the

polarization that ariel sharon caused between arabs, palestinians and within israeli society. we are not seeing the outpouring of sympathy and grief that some produce. perhaps that's because he was controversial inside the region and outside or people can't be bothered. we are only seeing a few hundred people. nick schifrin live for us. as nick mentioned ariel sharon was a polarising figure. zeina khodr has more from a refugee camp across the border. >> more than 30 years ago the streets were littered with mutilated bodies, dead people, women, elderly, the children, palestinians killed in the shabra and shatilla massacre in

1982. people are distributing sweets and celebrating once they heard of the death of ariel sharon. in 1982 he was defence minister, they invaded and laid siege to the camp, saying they were pursuing fighters belonging to the palestine liberation, but they entered the camp and carried out the killing. the rejoices attize dea -- at h death. they are not rejoicing his death. they would liked him to go to an international court and be tried. he was an israeli official. it's a state policy which they believe the israeli government will never allow the people to

come back home. hundreds of hours want him to come back home, giving them the right to return. >> nine people are dead and 16 others wounded after a car bomb rip through a bus terminal. no group has claimed responsibility. there has been fighting between government forces and fighters linked to al qaeda. >> talk about splitting the bill. in an agreement reached sunday south korea will pay $866 million to keep u.s. troops on the ground, following a series of threats from neighbouring north korea. the u.s. and seoul will share costs on security measures for the next five years. the agreement must be approved by south korea's parliament. >> there's more revelations from former defense secretary robert gates, saying the obama administration tried to oust hamid karzai four years ago. jane ferguson explains. >> it was an accusation often

dismissed as paranoia. during his re-election campaign in 2009, afghan president hamid karzai accused the u.s. of trying to get rid of him. >> there were a lot of stories in the british and american media of the plans in washington to bring a change into the structure of governance in afghanistan, to weaken the central government and go into the daylight and put resources in to afghanistan. >> now excerpts from then u.s. deputy secretary robert gates's new book says it is true. he writes anning rily about richard holbrook's attempts saying holbrook and others extended support to many of hamid karzai's challenges. the presidential spokesperson reacted with an, "i told you

so." >> what robert gates reveals in his books reveals the righteousness of hamid karzai's claims to manipulate the genuine votes of the afghan people. >> hamid karzai was accused of foul play. evidence of an attempt to rig the votes in his favour was reported. allegations of inference by the obama administration could discredit america. >> the afghanistan people don't believe anyone. they have been misled by so many players, so many times, that sometimes they have lost - at times they don't have the self-confidence that is sufficient for a nation to act on - in their own interests. it's very dangerous that we have depleted a nation from its

self-confidence. >> revelations of a possible us interference in the last presidential elections here come a few months before afghans go to the polls to vote for their next leader. president hamid karzai warned against foreign manipulation, a warning that holds more weight. jane ferguson, al jazeera, kabul. >> robert gates is expected to hit the talk show circuit for his new book. >> federal investigators are expected to arrive in west virginia for the chemical spill leaving 300,000 without drinking water. the unregulated chemical leaked through a 1 inch hole, spilling into a river and made its way into a water treatment facility. >> we have to work through a process to develop a set of

protocols and a set of methods toas this particular chemical, a nonregulated chemical that did not have an existing set of protocols. >> the national guard is working with eastman manufacturers and hope to complete testing on 100 samples on saturday. despite uncertainty progress is being made. >> it may come to find that if the numbers are below one part of a million, we may not have to flush the area. i think the systems are working, the trends are going in the right direction, and we are hoping that we keep going in that direction and don't see a reason why we won't. >> fema has brought roughly 377,000 gallons of portable water to carlestone and its counties. >> with no time line for when tap water will be safe to use,

thousands of west virginians are stocking up on clean water where they can find it. >> we've been using a sparingly, a precious comodd di. the federal agency delivered 1 million litres of bottled water to the counties. >> simple things like getting up and washing your hair or feeding the baby with formula. it catches you offguard. >> i caught rainwater to do the dishes with. >> the problem is impacting hundreds of businesses. from restaurants to salons, many are forced to shut down. >> we have no idea when we will get a report that the water is safe enough to use. >> steven blake is a hairdresser. >> the clients come in, they want a shampoo or water for chemical services. without that we cannot work. >> charleston medical center is

using two tankers to get clean water. the hospital says it's enough to last a few days. nonemergency surgery has been put on hold. hospitals report a small number of patients have come in complaining of symptoms relating to the chemical spill. they include nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea. >> jonathan martin reporting from west virginia. >> a wintry mix hangs over the pacific north-west. saturday off to a rough start. in maine, four tractor trailers and a car collided. in new york a bulldozer freed 30 people trap in their homes by rising floodwaters. rain and snow created problems throughout new york. at new jersey's freehold raceway a slick track for major rain sent the starting gate ploughing into the horses. despite the incident all the horses are okay.

good sunday morning to you i'm meteorologist eboni deon. what a difference a day makes. a cold front moved through the eastern sea board, spawning strong storms and bringing plenty of rain to the eastern u.s. things are clear. that's because the front cleared the coastline. a few showers across the southern plains, and we are watching the north-west, which is why the action will be. storm after storm kind of moved through the area, and we are going to stay unsettled even into the start of the work week, because we have a steady stream of moisture. the front making its way inland kicking up the wind across the inner mountain west and warm moisture is moving in to the washington area. rain has moved out across the north-east, but we are watching snow into parts of upstate new york. the flooding concerns will remain in place.

monday mild temperatures, additional rain. ground is frozen, and we are dealing with ice jams, breaking up ice on rivers. the water has nowhere else to go but to rise. we'll still deal with that problem as well. into the north-west we talk about a system moving in. mountain snow and strong winds. we have been dealing with winds gusting. 70 miles per hour in spots. as we look at this pass in washington along the i-90, snowy and icepacks. travel will be slow. here to look at the wind reports we dealt with yesterday, up to 60 miles per hour, 56 miles per hour around seatac. winds at this hour not as strong. gusty winds to 36 miles per hour. high wind warnings in place, in addition to our winter storm

warnings. anywhere up ward from eight inches of snow. we are watching more snow in colorado where there's a winter storm warning in place. >> egypt's army chief gave the clearest sign that he would be interested in taking the job of president. abdul fatah al-sisi announced he will run, but said if the people request him to enter the race and the army mandates it, he would consider the job. >> defence minister, leading member of the interim government and perhaps, soon, egypt's next president. general abdul fatah al-sisi has been a driving force in the military for many years. it was he who great mohamed morsi as his country's first democratically elected president in the summer of 2012. he, again who deposed mohamed morsi the following summer. >> there's no question that he is the most powerful individual in egypt. i think most egyptians realise

although there's a prime minister and interim president, he is not only the most popular figure, but the most powerful. it would strengthen the relations between the gulf counterrevolutionary forces of saudi arabia, unit arab emirates and egypt. >> several have given money to egypt since mohamed morsi was deposed, to help the interim government deal with an ailing economy. some believe things have improved. shares in the cairo stock market went up 50% since late june last year. the curfew and state of emergency ended, replaced with tough protest laws for the police. elements run flattering articles about abdul fatah al-sisi, and he appears to have a cult following. his opponents are equally

vociferous. this was a protest by supporters of the anti-coup alliance on friday, believing that abdul fatah al-sisi and the military led a coup against the democratically elected government and blame him for the killings of hundreds of people when the military ended mass sit-in protests in august. >> translation: i do not recollection his constitution, it's not a constitution, they are a mob in control, trying to cover up a coup. >> on the international stage abdul fatah al-sisi and the interim government tried to woo old allies. this was a visit by the russian foreign defence ministers to cairo in november. it's the referendum on the constitution which will decide whether abdul fatah al-sisi will run for president. >> while these comments come days before a referendum on a new constitution, the first in a

series the government says will restore elective rule. calls to stop the bloodshed. a transitional government in the central african republic hopes to end weeks of violence. plus, why a dozen shutter bugs hope to shatter myths about life in the middle east. why comics are being preserved as works of art.

>> good morning. welcome back to al jazeera america. i'm morgan radford live from new york. >> calls for call as a central government takes over central african republic. first a look at the temperatures with meteorologist eboni deon. >> it will be nice but cooler than yesterday thanks to a cold front that made its way in, temperatures will fall, but only by a few degrees. the next shot of cold air will come by next week. 35 in billings, 45 in denver. to the 30s in denver.

40 in atlanta. here is a closer view of the north-east. 44 in philadelphia, 47 in d.c. not bad, especially for this time of year. that's warmer than the average high temperatures. cooling town. notice in advance, it has to make its way through maine. temperatures on the warmer site. we have cooled 16 degrees in cleveland. by wednesday a front will move down, bringing colder air into parts of the deep south as we get into the latter part of the week. the good news it will not last so long. this is a look at wednesday, into the 20s around minneapolis, and we'll have 40s. >> african envoys are in south sudan hoping to convince rebels to accept a ceasefire deal. the youngest nation has been driven to the brink of a civil war. more than 1,000 have been killed

and a quarter million people have been driven from their homes. the two sides have been meeting in ethiopia sips tuesday, hoping to sign a peace deal when the envoys return. south sudan's oil production fell by 45,000 a day after oil fields were shut down due to the fighting. >> an operation to airlift thousands of migrants stranded in the war-torn central african republic started this weekend. as barnaby phillips reports from bangui, the humanitarian effort is an attempt for tens of thousands to escape the violence. >> a hangar on the edge of bangui airport are those that want to get out of this country. hundreds of muslims are here, sheltering amid the national airports. this imam told me his mosque was burnt down, parents murdered by

the militia. >> they killed us, hunted the muslims. i didn't know where to sleep. i came to the airport. my sons and cousins, i didn't know where they are. >> they are being registered for emergency flights to chad. that's where they'll feel safe. even though many were born here, in the car. >> we need more flights. we have enough money to start with around nine, 10 flights, and we need more money. we are people everywhere. some are in bangui, and some everywhere in the country. >> on the other side of the airport the they can muster protocol for an arrival ceremony even though the state has almost collapse said. the car leaders back from the summit where the president stood down. getting rid of him was one

thing, building a government another. >> the returning politicians have a difficult task. over the next few weeks we have to choose within their ranks, somebody who can unite the country where law and order broke down. it is not obvious if any of them have their capability. >> until then, this man is notionally in charge. he has to steer the transition at a dangerous time. in the muslim neighbourhoods of bangui we found almost deserted streets. when we stopped, gun fire. but in christian areas, they are triumphant over the downfall of president michel djotobia. there's more than a hint of menace in the celebrations. >> priority on the flights is given to families, especially those with women and children.

>> speaking of families, a family of a young boy and died stopping a suicide bomb in pakistan will receive the highest medal of honour. the 15-year-old chased a suicide bomber outside the school gates on monday. he was killed when the bomber detonated his desk. more than 200 of his classmates were inside. the prime minister's office said the boy's family will receive the star of bravery. >> bracing for a showdown. protesters in thailand hope to topple the government and paralyze the streets of bangkok. plus, on the front line in part two of our special series, "return to fukushima", we look at the workers tasked with cleaning up the disaster. >> i'm mark morgan, his bid to stay on the field has been dealt a crushing blow. what is the future for alex rodriguez. that story ahead.

>> welcome back, i'm morgan radford, these are the top stories. thousands of mourners say final goodbyes to israel prime minister ariel sharon. his coffin will lay in state for several hours and on monday he'll be laid to rest at the family farm in israel. >> an operation to airlift thousands of african might grants stranded in the central african republic. >> a shutdown is underway in thailand as anti-government protesters vow to occupy key locations cross the country, in what they hope is a massive show of political force, ending a deadlock that is gripping the nation. >> hi, i'm having a bit of a

problem hearing you properly. >> if i can give you an update of what has been happening around here. i'm having a problem hearing you, but i'll tell you what is happening. the bangkok shutdowns are supposed to begin monday morning. it's sunday evening, it's getting darker but it's begun. seven key junctions are targeted as well as a government complex. the government complex has been barricaded around the area. motorizes have been held and told to avoid the area. two major junctions in commercial areas have been shut down already. we have been seeing people here arising by the thousands all day. now we are leaving and presumably join the barricades

to try and, they say, paralyze the city in an effort to bring down the deposit of prime minister yingluck shinawatra. they accuse her and her family of corruption and nepoities. prime minister yingluck shinawatra announced elections on 2 february. the anti-government protesters that you see here want the government out and resigned before then. they don't want to participate in the elections. they say the government may buy votes and get their way in. the truth is they won elections in 2010. and the opposition party have not performed well electorally. there's a struggle going on at the moment over thai democracy on one hand - that's the people who support the government. they say that they have been elected and they should stay in power, and between the issue of corruption, and the kind of

people that the bangkok elite, as it were, would prefer to have in power. >> thank you so much. veronica pedrosa reporting from thailand. >> secretary of state john kerry and top envoys from 10 other countries are putting pressure on syria's main opposition group to attend peace talks in geneva next week. the goal is to bring the western backed syrian coalition face to face with the syrian government. fighting has weakened the rebels, but expectations for the geneva conference are low. diplomats say it's the only hope to bring an end to a war that has killed 130,000 people. phillize what are the obstacles when it comes to convincing the opposition to come to the table? >> well, there's a number of

things they have to overcome before the national council of syrian opposition go to the table in geneva. not least of which the composition of who will sit around the peace negotiation table in geneva. that is a highly onten someho somehows -- contentious issues. there are stumbling blocks, non-starters, not least of which is the impasse between the two sides on the status of bashar al-assad in a post-assad or future vision of syria. they will be very difficult things to work out - that is one of the major reasons why they are here. they are trying to convince the opposition to attend geneva ii later this month and u.s. documents have indicated that they are cautiously optimistic. they will be able to persuade the syrian opposition to go to

switzerland. >> phil itner live from paris, thank you for being with us. >> 12 extraordinary female photographers from the middle east lift the veil on the arab world. she who tells a story is a provocative glimpse through their eyes. >> on the surface the bedroom looks like a room in thest. that's the point. this teenager's room is in a refugee room in lebanon. the portrait is a work by rhonda. >> people argue that this is not in lebanon. i say, "i promise you it is taken in lebanon", she has a similar life in lebanon that my daughters have in the u.s., despite the fact that there's a car bomb here and there. >> the project called "a girl and her room", was inspired by her kid, capturing women in the middle east and u.s. to show

similarities. >> she was excited with the sunglasses. she said, "i want to wear my sunglasses." she sat looking out the window with the sunglasses and stuffed animals. it's like leaving her childhood behind, looking out the window. photographer rula, a palestine is drawn to scenes of conflict. >> i started my career as a photojournalist. i did well. i had a severe problem there. i could never put my feelings on the side. the story was part of me, and i was part of the story. >> she photographed the aftermath of israel's offensive in 2002. >> the only people in the streets were either dead or arrested. like i couldn't recognise it. >> she wants her images seep as negatives. it's a dark landscape of

conflict. it touched her personally. >> i kept going around. i took pictures everywhere. until i hit this man, he was in ramallah. i looked at the face. i said oh, my god. not this guy. i knew the guy. when i saw him dead on the ground, i felt like what these were talking about. settlements are increasing more and more. the land is vanishing more and more. the photos are here in this exhibit, alongside this. women use the cameras to show the women of the middle east are not just victims of war or oppression, but people in ordinary places, trying to live their lives in a difficult circumstance. >> i love it when people go there and see that there's something else coming out of there that's beautiful, that's artistic. that's cultural. i personally love it. it's done by women.

i feel like a lot of the things happening in the middle east are not the women's doing. women in the middle east would be in a better place. the new zealand fine arts in boston is planning to send the exhibits on the road. first to san francisco, and other cities across the u.s. >> it's been three years since japan's nuclear disaster. leakage of radiation, contaminated water could reach the u.s. shores this year. in the second part of the series michael okwu brings you the stories of those that do the dirty work of that clean-up. >> this is j village, what used to be the soccer training center. it's where workers gather before heading to the fukushima power plant and the front lines of nuclear disaster. a core number of workers that work for tepco, company workers,

not contract workers, a small percentage of the people on the power plant. the rest are contractors. david mc-neil is a journalist and author. they are recruited by hundreds of subcontractors that poured into the prefect tur. there's an enormous amount of money. >> "america tonight" found little of the money made it into the hands of those on the tront lines. >> workers tell me they make $100 a day, give or take. the lowest being $60. workers say they are given little training on avoiding exposure. a worker who will call tanaka travelled japan as a labourer. as all of the workers we spoke to, he didn't want to be identified. he was shocked to find

radioactive hotspots. the lack of training and protective gear made him fear for his health. >> we used to wear charcoal filters. because the cost cuts we had dust filters. tepco employees wore charcoal filters in all locations. >> it sounds as if you are saying that there were different classes of workers. >> tepco is god. the main contractors are kings and we are the slaves. >> i spoke with ian tokyo, the tepco spokesperson. is this not tepco's responsibility after all these workers are working for you. >> if there are labour practices occurring that violate the law, there's a legal process to remedy the situations. however, it is our

responsibility to improve the working environment inside the plant. we made a lot of progress, but we do aim for a higher level of improvement. >> but any improvement will be too late for the invisible army of workers, many who fear they no longer have a future. because of a system they feel puts profit before safety. >> when they needed people, they used subcontractors to hire us. when our surfaces were no longer needed i am among the victims they threw away. >> reporting from fukushima, michael okwu, al jazeera. >> coming up in the 7 o'clock hour, we'll show you part three of the special series, where michael okwu shows us how radiation from fukushima is affecting the west coast of the united states.

>> now some career alerting news for a prominent major leaguer. mark morgan is here to explain. >> this was expected, but somewhat jolting when the ruling came down. now a player is wondering about his future. an independent arbitrator ruled that alex rodriguez will be suspended for the whole of the entire 2014 reason for abusing the steroid policy. it's reduced from the 211 game penalty imposed. alex rodriguez said he will take his case to a federal judge. now, here is a brief history of a-rod's fight to stay on the field. he was handed a 211-game suspension by the commissioners by violating an agreement and drug program. it was the largest suspension in baseball history. a log appealed and played the rest of the 2013 season.

on september 13th the arbitration hearing began in new york city. at one point he cursed and stormed out when he learnt of a witness not testifying. he called it a farce. alex rodriguez's original suspension is reduced to 102 games and post-season games the yankees may play. major league baseball released this statement. under the basic agreement the arbitration has been a fair mechanism for resolving disputes. we believe the 211-game suspension was appropriate, the decision rendered by the panel will focus on efforts eliminating performance-enhancing suspenses. >> alex rodriguez reacted with a statement of his own. the number of games came as no

surprise. >> this is a decision not put before a fair and impartial jury. alex rodriguez said: >> now, as for a-rod's team, the yankees, they released a statement saying: >> now the question becomes will the a-rod play for the yankees again. investigative reporter michael o'keefe weighs in. >> we'll certainly send him to the minor league camp, and, you know, that might be - you know, humiliating to him. something that he may not want to do. i think there'll be discussions

happening in the next couple of days, few weeks about what will happen when we hit the middle of february and the players return to tampa for spring training. >> turning to the n.f.l. the game in foxborough was billed as a showdown between tom brady of the patriots and the colts andrew luck. with the rain and wind the ground attack took the center stage. specifically the patriot's ground game. the colts had no answer for this one-man wrecking crew. rushing for 126 yards. blunt scored more touchdowns. the patriots rolled over indy 43-22. here is blunt on a 73 yarder. new england will take on the winner of the chargers bronco's game. >> in the nfc the saints travel

to seattle hoping to exact revenge. century link field battered by wind and rain as well, was not kind to new orleans, as it rarely is to a visiting team. running back marshall lynch was in beast mode. we move to the fourth. it's a shut-out at this point. 16-zip sea hawks. kiry robinson break the the ice with a run. new orleans for two. mark ingram takes the hand off. 16-8. the saints are back in it. the seahawks revert back to 24, back to the ground game and lynch shows it was a good decision. a 31-yard run late in the fourth sealing the deal. he had 140 yards on 21 carries, advancing 23-15. >> it was a big game for us. how we showed up and made plays,

marshall lynch had a tremendous game rushing the football. coming south, this direction towards the locker room it was tough throwing the ball. we knew we had to throw the football. >> proud to get the win and come home next week. that was tremendous. we are thrilled. we played a fine football team and players and coaches. we have great respect for the team and to get the win is huge. >> all right. here is the schedule today: panthers beat them 10-9. caroliner 7 and 1 at home. the only team to beat the broncos, 27-20 win on december 12th. an interesting note, the last four super bowl champions played the eagles in a home opener in philadelphia. this season the broncos play philadelphia - the chargers play

the eels in their home opener. an odd note there, but a nugget to keep in mind. >> what if a-rod doesn't come back, who is next this line for the throne? >> i don't know. it's a tough decision for the yankees. they owe him a lot of money. a lot of decisions to be made regardless of how far he takes it. >> you will keep us posted on that. today marks the 4-year anniversary of the devastating earthquake. many are still struggling to put their lives back together. >> this woman has lived here for 3.5 years. it is not her home. that was destroyed in the haiti earthquake in 2010. she moved into the tent city in port au prince. >> translation: conditions were

not good. it was difficult. mosquitos all over. the heat was killing us. it was bad. >> when she was offered a $500 voucher to move into an apartment it was a huge relief. she took the money, like thousands of others. that yellow building is where they process money transfers, and is open five days a week. people line up for hours and wait patiently for what they have been told is a way out of the tent cities. the money comes from the haitian government and aid groups. once they accept a voucher, they have three days to destroy a tent and move into a new place. >> we pay the rent with the money they gave us, there's no money to eat. it would have been better to stay where we are. >> this is a coalition of 40 organizations fighting for the rights of 300,000 people living in tent cities. claiming $2 billion that should

have been spent on helping them has gone to nongovernment organizations. >> translation: ngos spend a lot on cars and big salaries because foreigners work far from their country. it's about equipment, salaries and maintenance. >> there are still serious problems at the camps. limited access to toilet and drinkable water, violence is increasing. amnesty international and the international organization for migration claims the haitian government forcibly evicted tens of thousands. officials say relocating people is the priority. >> after her rental subsidy ran out. she moved to a second tent city. there are few jobs, no public transport. >> translation: it's isolated, but i don't have a choice. i don't want to live here. we hear about the authorities. no one visits or talks to us.

>> it's not the life she wanted for herself or her family, but is the only future she can imagine. >> relief agencies say the number of those living in encampment fell to 146,000 is 271 sites. >> coming up, a licence to kill. outrage as a permit goes to the highest bidder for the right to slaughter a black rhino. from the funny pages to the museums - how comics are transcending the world of art.

>> welcome back to al jazeera america. i'm morgan radford. comics as an art form. first, let's look at where the snow and rain may fall with meteorologist eboni deon. >> good morning. we are actually finally getting a chance to try out across the eastern u.s. as a front clears the coast line. in its wake we deal with a wind flow coming in off the late, driving in snow into parts of

upstate new york. we'll see the snow coming down, not expecting a lot, but enough to cause travel concerns. keep that in mind. also we'll deal with wintry weather across the midwest, travelling out of minneapolis. it's a bit more active in the pacific north-west. rain, snow and wind picking up. around seattle rain. coastal areas dealing with a strong wind crust. >> a hunting club in dallas auctioned off a permit to kill an endangered rhino in africa, going for $350,000, sparking outrage among animal rights activists. >> space inside the dallas convention centre was at a prem yum as 45,000 hunting enthusiasts were here. >> this is our single biggest

fundraiser. >> jewellery, rifle and furs were available for purchase. this time the item for auction was a permit to hunt a black rhino in namibia. that brought the protesters. >> trophy hunting. putting animals on display is wrong. >> they say the auction was inhumin. >> we need every one of these animals, not one to be taken out. >> the dallas club says proceeds from the sale of permit goes towards saving the species. >> a lot of people think wildlife exists and takes care of itself. it doesn't. to manage wildlife it costs money. namibia has 2.5 million people. they need money, to help protect and increase the population. >> carter was able to convince leaders to allow the sale of the permit outside of namibia because of the amount of money

brought into the country. >> this is the first time the permit has been auctioned in the united states. >> the dallas safari club should give money to namibia, say opponents, instead of giving a licence to kill. they made the point on "america tonight." >> the idea of linking a trophy hunting exercise may make sense to trophy-hunting people, but not in the wider sense. it has become aggressive and threatening to wildlife. others say the auction tells the world that americans will pay anything to kill their species. >> the san diego zoo has one less panda. he was worn at the zoo, but his parents are on loan. panda diplomacy allows the

chinese government to bring any cubs back to china for the fourth birthday. >> cart on comics are no longer on the back pages. snoopy and others have found a home in ohio. john takes us to the widest collection of cartoon art. >> perched atab a landscape is a temple for cartoons. this is from 1798, and it features a flight in congress. billy island cartoon library and museum treats them as thomas jefferson is treated. >> cartoonists know that they can give their collections and they'll be preserved, exhibited and made accessible to

researchers. >> from classic comics to political. >> here is a frankly roosevelt. >> it's one part museum and where scholars study the pracitioners of light literature. >> there's scholarship on novels. this was the material that everywhere had in their hand. these are important visual artefacts of an era that need to be taken seriously. >> and you came all the way from hanover. >> all the way from germany. >> housed in the cells of this vault are 45,000 books of cartoons, 67,000 journals. the world's largest collection of cartoons and comics. in 1843 the british satirical magazine "punch" records the first use. there's the calvin and hob collection.

>> we have everything. >> and peanuts charles m schultz. >> i like "peanuts", it's timeless. the way it was drawn, the captioning. >> in chester gould's drawings of dick tracy. the collection includes 300,000 original works of art. there would be more, but the originals were often tossed out after photographed and reprinted for the newspaper. a standard original may be worth tens of thousands. an early one like this from 1951 is priceless. >> the collection illustrates historical stereotypes. >> you can see from this that there was a sensibility in terms of how to portray minorities. and historic controversies drawn together in a home of their own. >> the archives hold thousands of original sketches by jim

borgman, the pulitzer prize-winning cartoonist. >> at the end of the first hour here is what we are following: ariel sharon's body lies in state to allow the public to lie in state. a state memorial for monday. >> looking into the chemical spill that disrupted the water supply in west virginia will start on monday. >> calls for a transitional government in central african republic. >> the next shot of cold air is not far away, details ahead. >> thage you for watching i'm back with you when al jazeera america conditiotinues.

>> thousands of israelis pay their final respect to the prime minister ariel sharon. >> plus, syria's war, world leaders come together in paris hoping to end fighting that killed more than 130,000 people. >> bracing for a showdown. protesters in thailand hope to topple the government and paralyse the streets of bangkok. >> south sudan in crisis. the world's youngest nation on the brink of a full-on war after a month of fighting.

>> hello and welcome to al jazeera america live from new york city. i'm morgan radford. thousands of mourners say final goodbyes to former israeli prime minister ariel sharon. his coffin will lie in state for several hours and on monday he'll be laid to rest. dignitaries are expected to attend his funeral and vice president joe biden will lead a delegation from the united states. nick schifrin is live from jerusalem. explain where you are and what you are seeing right now. >> this is the equivalent of outside the u.s. congress and outside the knesset, the parliament. as you can see there are hundreds of people, about a thousands or so who have come since the morning. they are paying release, laying in state behind me. what the people are trying to do is say thank you for a man who is the prime minister, a leading

general, and, of course, he is controversial and polarizing as well as as you and i have talked about. within israel. what we have not seen is an outpouring of emotion and people coming in, like i said. about 1,000, and at times nobody has been coming in at all. we expect the numbers to increase this afternoon. this man was controversial, did not unite israeli society. we are seeing that today. a few people coming to pay respects. not the crowds we expected. >> can you talk to us about the burial that is happening on monday. explain the decision to bury ariel sharon at his family farm in the south of israel instead of the national territory in jerusalem. >> yes, someone like ariel sharon, more influence on

israel's identity than anyone since the founder of israel, he would be buried a couple of miles from here on mt hurtzel. the family said, "no, we don't want that. you can have the military funeral in front of the knesset and laying this state, but we want him buried on the family farm." >> ariel sharon was proud of his farm. it's one of the largest private residences and will be buried next to his wife lily, who died in 2000. he wanted to be buried there. his sons said he is going to be buried there no matter what the government asks. >> nick schifrin, live from jerusalem. thank you for being with us this morning. >> many palestinians saw ariel sharon differently from israelis. perhaps as the biggest road block to independence. zeina khodr has more from a refugee camp across the border in lebanon. >> more than 30 years ago the streets were littered with

mutilated bodies, dead people, women, elderly and the children. palestinians killed in the shabra and shatilla massacre. people are celebrating, distributing sweets once learning of the death of ariel sharon, the former israeli prime minister. he was defence minister in 1982. the israeli army was in beirut and invaded, laying siege to the camp. they said they were pursuing fighters belonging to the palestine liberation organization, but what happened was a lebanese militia allied to the israeli army entered the camp and carried out the killings. most of the survivors, of course, they are rejoicing his death. no one is mourning his death. they wanted to see ariel sharon be taken to an international court, tried for what they see are crimes committed against them. that never happened there were numerous attempts.

survivors said ariel sharon's death will not change. he was an israeli official. it was a state policy which they believe the israeli government will never allow the people to come back home. hundreds of thousands want to go home in compliance with u.n. resolution, giving them the right to return. >> nicknamed the bulldozer, ariel sharon led israel to war with lebanon in 1982, establishing settlements on palestine land. >> 13 people are dead in twin targets. the first explosion rocked a bus station, killing nine people. four died after a second bomb ripped through buses. no group has claimed responsibility for the attacks, but there has been intense fighting between government forces and fighters linked to al qaeda. secretary of state john kerry and top envoys from 10 other countries are putting pressure on syria's main opposition group

to attend peace talks in geneva. the goal is to bring the western-backed syrian national coalition face to face with the syrian government. infighting and pressure weekened the moderate rebels, expectations for next week's conference are low. diplomats say it's the only hope to bring an end to a war that killed more than 130,000 people. >> al jazeera's phil itner joins me live from paris where the talks are taking place. what are the obstacles secretary of state john kerry and the other envoys are facing when it comes to convincing the syrian national we national coalition to come to the table? >> yes, that is the main issue here in paris in the building behind me at the foreign ministry. they are trying to convince the opposition to attend the so-called geneva ii talks in switzerland later this month. the obstacles and the reluctance

of the syrian opposition to attend the talks is due to a number of things, but primarily it is the question of who will be sitting around the table, are there preconditions - that is a huge divide on the two sides between the government and the opposition. whether or not there would be preconditions such as the status of president bashar al-assad or any future government. u.s. documents that arrived indicate that they have cautious optimism. they'll be able to persuade the national council to attend those talks in geneva later this month. but until, of course, there is an agreement and a decision made by the syrian opposition later next week, there's no done deal as yet. >> so you say there's no done

deal, are the meetings likely to have an impact on the geneva peace conference? >> well, certainly if there are actually face to face meetings in geneva as the international community hopes, that would be a major move forward. this has been a difficult process for the international community and the friends of syria to try to get a consensus, to try to get a unified opposition to meet with members of the go. . for face to face talks. as hats been said by the u.s. documents in particular, the only solution to the war in syria is a diplomatic political resolution. there's another issue on the table that does need to be pointed out and that is the presence of the russian delegation. it's a meeting of the friends of

syria in paris, but the russians are in attending and have said in recent days, directly to u.s. documents, we will continue to support the government of the bashar al-assad, so that's a task for the u.s. and trend of syria to get russia to backtrack from the hard status. >> russia pledging their support to bashar al-assad. thank you for joining me live from paris. >> anti-government protesters in thailand will gather on the streets of bangkok on monday. they say they'll shut down the thai capital until they get what they want, which is a caretaker government. the country has a history of the political confrontation. the military staged coups 18 times many are worried that the current situation could end up with the military on the streets again. >> clashes between pro and anti-government groups on sunday

left six people injured, three seriously. african envoys are in south sudan, hoping to convince rebels to accept a ceasefire deal. the youngest nation has been driven to the brink of a full-on civil war. 1,000 have been killed and a quarter of a million people have been driven from their homes. the two sides have been meeting in ethiopia hoping to find a way to piece. south sudan's oil production fell by 45,000 barrels a day after oil fields were shut down due to the fighting. >> meanwhile an operation to airlift thousands of african migrants stranded in the war torn african republic started this weekend. the humanitarian effort is a response to the need for tens of thousands to escape violence. >> in a hangar on the edge of

bangui airport are those wanting to get out of the country much hundreds of muslims are here, sheltering for now. the imam told me this mosque was burnt down and parents murdered, all by the christian militia, the anti-balaka. >> they killed us, hunted the muslims, i didn't know where to sleep, i came to the airport. my son, cousins - i don't know where they are, they run away. >> they are being registered for emergency flights to chad, where they'll feel south, even though many of these people were born here in the car. >> the challenge is more flights. we start and have enough money to start with nine, 10 flights. we need more money, we have people everywhere. some are in bangui and some are

everywhere in the country. >> on the other side of the airport they can muster protocol even though the state has almost collapsed. the car leaders, back from the summit where the president stood down. getting rid of him was one thing. building a new government another. >> the returning politicians have an incredibly difficult tack. they have to choose within the ranks somebody who can unite the divided country where law and order broke down. it is not obvious that any of them has that capability. >> until then, this man is notionally in charge. alexandre ferdinand nguendet - he has to steer the transition at a dangerous time. in the muslim their our hoods of bangui, we found almost deserted streets. when we stopped - gunfire.

in christian areas, they are triumphant over the downfall of president michel djotobia. there is more than a hint of menace in all the celebrations. >> priority on the flights is given to families, especially women and children. >> federal investigators are expected to arrive in west virginia on monday to look into the chemical spill that has left 300,000 residents without safe drinking water. an unregulated chemical spilled through a container, spilling into a river and into a water treatment facility. the national guard is working with the manufacturers of the chemical, eastman manufacturers. the guard is working with them and will have the result shortly. >> if the numbers are found to be below one part per million,

we may not have the flush the area. i think the systems are working. all the trends are going in the right direction, and we are hoping that we keep going in that direction and don't see a reason we won't. >> fema brought roughly 370,000 gallons of portable water to charleston and the in my opinion surrounding counties. >> thousands of mourners pay respects to the israeli prime minister ariel sharon. we'll focus on the medical aspects of the last eight years of his life spent living in a coma.

>> welcome back to jam are. i'm morgan radford live from new york city. ahead, a closer look at fukushima power plant. first you are looking at live pictures of mourners in jerusalem as they pay their final respects to former israeli prime minister ariel sharon. he died on saturday after spending eight years in a coma, which is why joining us now to explain how the brain functions

in a vegetative state is a doctor, a neurologist specialising in strokes apt the new york presbyterian hospital. help us to understand - i understand that his son's voice - a team of doctors performed a number of tests and said he recognised his son's voice. what does that mean? how aware is someone in a vegetative state? >> right, in a vegetative state, higher parts of the brain that control awareness and thinking are not working properly. automatic functions like breathing are functioning. we think of a vegetative state is one where a person is not aware of their environment and can't communicate properly with people. something else shades from the vegetative state into normal wakefulness, and that's the minimally conscious state. it's possible thee transitioned into that state where there's a bit of awareness and ability to

respond, but not a full awareness that we might have. >> his recognition was there, he was able to recognise something as specific as who was speaking to him, but couldn't respond. >> it's possible. it's hard to know what is going on. we see some indications in some patients with vej tative states. some indication of awareness and recognition to a family member's voice. they may respond in a different way with a smile or eye movement. it's hard to know what is going on inside their head. there may be the beginnings or glimmer of understanding there >> let's talk about technology. with something as delicate as this, when someone's life is on the line. do advances in technology complicate the decision, that we can deep people away longer. >> it can complicate it, are you referring to artificial

respiration, and nutrition. all the decisions are made. in the united states we defer with the patient, the person, what they indicated they might want to happen. a second area of technology may be fancy brain imaging that we can use to tell us when someone is aware or awake in a rudimentary form. so when we examine somebody, we may ask them to do something, wiggle a finger, something like that, in order to tell if they can understand us and respond properly. with brain images we see subtle changes in the brain, even when the person cannot perform activity, like a movement. using that technology we can detect traces of awareness in people where we never thought it would be present. it's rudimentary. >> more a nuanced. >> the more nuanced awareness occurring with brain imaging,

like functional m.r.i., which has been used in these situations. that kind of detection of awareness doesn't necessarily translate into the ability to fully enjoy life, communicate with people, make wishes known. people are working in the area, but we don't know the answer. >> what about religion. in 2009 the israeli government passed a law saying you have to show a series of tests to show there's so much rain damage that it's irreversible. what role does religion play in this? >> i'm not an expert in religion. it plays a big role. >> have you seen cases where it's more complicated? >> absolutely. certain religious groups do not recognise the same kinds of issues at the end of life. so until the heart stops beating, for example, the person is considered to be alive.

in the united states and almost all the states, in fact, brain death - when the brain stops functioning completely, then a person is considered dead, as if their heart had stopped beating, it's a legal definition of death. it's the same as cessation of the heart beat. it's a different state behind minimally conscious and veg tative. it's when there's no function. brain, not even the lowest parts of the brain so the person cannot breathe on their own or support life functions. you need the brain to think and move and do the great thing we do, but to breathe and for your heart to function. and so when the brain is entirely destroyed from whatever the injury was, stroke or whatever the case may be, then in the united states, as i say, it's considered equal to death. some religious groups don't

recognise that form of death, and that can raise death. >> we talked about religious and technical aspects, but how long does it cost on a monthy basis to keep someone alone, let alone eight years. >> it can beexpensive. i can't tell you how expensive. it's not that there are clearly defined states, there are grey areas. >> and happens on an individual basis. >> some people require artificial respiration, others don't. some require more care. yes, it is expensive, no question. >> dr mitchal alken from new york presbytarian hospital. thank you for being with us this morning. >> thank you for having me.

>> good seat mourn. as the front clears the frontline there's a windfall, and snow around the lakes in the western u.s., we have that frontal boundary on the move and it will move across the upper midwest sparking a few light showers along with rain. that will cause travel concerns into minnesota. it will keep it rainy, snowy and windy. here is a close-up view of the snow. really not expecting to see more than what we are deal with now. however, with the recent rain, the mild temperatures flooding is a concern and we have a number of areas under flood watch. into the north-west. we'll see the rain on the coastal areas. another day to have the umbrellas with you. travel plans, you need to be cautious. snow and wind making it

difficult to see as we get into the mountains. >> meteorologist eboni deon. >> idaho is taking control of its privately run for-profit prison system. the state paid $29 million to corrections corporation of america to run the gaols. the company has been the subject of lawsuits and violence and faces charges of fraud. courtney kxealy has more. >> an investigation by the associated press led to the release of this video, showing an inmate at the idaho correction center beating another. no one, not even the guards, bothered to stop the fight. >> the beating went on for so long that the inmate attacking him sat down to catch his breath. >> this reporter had been investigating for the past seven years. >> the idaho cca prison had a rate three times higher than the other prisons in the state. >> the correctional corporation of america runs the idaho correctional center, the only

privately-run prison in the state. it's been nicknamed the gladiator school. the fight was visible on surveillance, it took 10 minutes for guards to step in. the beaten inmate sustained permanent brain damage. cca settled a lawsuit with the family, one much many filed against the company. >> the release of surveillance video didn't prompt changes. the investigation revealed cca billed the state for more than 3,000 hours, for which no one had done any work. at the beginning of this year the governor announced idaho would not renew its contract with cca. >> the governor said in a letter to the board of corrections: >> on friday governor otter, in favour of if private prisons

decided the handover should happen immediately. he may not have had a choice. after years of lawsuits and allegations cca decided not to bid for a contract renewal and none of its competitors were willing to step in. the top three private prison managers, cca, go, and mtc operate more than 130 facilities. idaho is not the only place where private prisons ran into controversy. >> more than two years ago dozens of inmates were injured when a fight at a prison run by cca turned into a wry opt. the state board of corrections voted to consider expanding use of privately owned prisons to reduce overcrowding. california is under pressure to do the same. >> we are talking about less than 10% of the prison association. >> i spoke to martin hore in pennsylvania. there are as many bad stories coming out of public prisons as out of private prisons, probably

more. >> another reason states may be turning to privately run prisons - lobbying and political spending. they spend tens of thousands in political contributions. despite a controversy, it doesn't look like they'll go away soon. >> cca settled several lawsuits but made $1.7 billion in profit. it reached out to company and governor otter for comment, we received no reply. >> the week in politics from the memoirs of robert gates, and chris christie's bridge-gate scandal. >> concerns about the radiation from fukushima in the pacific that could head here. >> mark morgan now that his stay on the field has been dealt a crushing blow, what is the future for alex rodriguez. that story ahead.

>> welcome back to you. you're watching al jazeera america. i'm morgan radford, live from new york city. here are the top stories - thousands of mourners say final goodbyes to former israeli prime minister ariel sharon. his coffin will lie in state for several hours and on monday he'll be put to rest at his family farm innize ize -- farm in israel. >> protesters try to shut down the country in thailand for the next week. >> we'll tell you about an operation to airlift thousands of african might grants stranded in the central african republic. >> there was no doubt it was a big week in politics, from chris christie bridge-gate scandal and robert gates's tell-all book and a week ahead with a showdown vote on unemployment benefits. >> former u.s. congressional

candidate and conservative political comen tator mc-mcallister is here with us to make sense of it. you are a conservative. how badly has chris christie's bridge-gate scandal hurt his chances? >> we are two years away. if you compared to 2008 and 2006, barack obama had not announced he was going to run for the presidency. we have plenty of time, going back to the press conference. people thought he was sincere and he is transparent. as long as that is the case, as long as there's no big bombshell showing that he has his fingerprint over there, there's more than enough time to move away from this. the truth of the matter is the people that he needed to impress in regards to early momentum for 2016 are folks in debate land in south carolina. folks in debate land in new

hampshire. he will not campaign there. to be honest people in iowa, if they like him, they won't worry about a bridge in new york. >> you said he impressed them. i don't know. are they impressed in debate land. some said he came off like a bully. >> chris christie is always going to come off like a bully. for once he came off with a sense of humility, when people asked, "did you reconsider the type of team you put together and why? the folks on your team may have taken these steps, he said "yes, it made me reflect on my style", he'll be tough and stand up for what he thinks is right. for once he took a step back and said hey, i'm willing to admit my mistakes even if i had nothing to do with this, because the buck stops here. it's my fault. when he said that, people on both sides of the aisle said

we'll give him the benefit of the doubt for now. >> the buck did not stop here. >> let's talk about the tell-all book. >> do you think he gave the president a fair assessment. >> unfortunately the type offing was bad, but the assessment may have been fair. i think that being a career military guy, being a republican coming in with the bush administration, he didn't seeing some of the politics involved with the barack obama administration. he gave them kudos when it came to being brave going after osama bin laden, but did not like the political back and forth and the omissions between the secretary of state hillary clinton and some of the other things going on in the room. it probably prompted him to walk away from the administration, and i have to imagine it takes us back 10 years ago, what might have gone in the room when colin powell walk away. you see people do this when they have accomplished enough when

they don't have to put up with the political shenanigans. it seems this is what robert gates did. >> i want to go back to something you said. you mentioned timing. it's all too curious. it's as the u.s. sits and waits for a signature from hamid karzai. it's dropped, this bombshell. why now? >> part of it is politics, part of it is selling books. he's not in the business of being involved in the defense department. part of this is selling books and getting involved in a news cycle. if you want to look at an indirect reason, he'll want to influence policies to that people loyal to him, and he is loyal too have a bit of leverage to get the points across to the president, to the administration moving forward. there may be some type of defense policy reasoning behind it, but it will be, if anything else, more nuanced and direct.

>> you mentioned loyalty, and that'll come into play, in the unemployment proposal scheduled for this week. will the democrats get the loyalty and support they need. >> i think the democrats will co--al esque around the cause. it will come down to the republicans, can we look as a party at the americans and athis job report, when we see the economy and building jobs, being as stagnant as it is, can we not afford to make sure there's a safety net there. i said this in december... >> that's not just republicans, everyone is looking for the safety net. democrats and republicans, that's what they are searching for. >> i would like to have seen the republicans put it in the budget 30 days to get it through january and have the fight while

people have the safety net. people don't have anything there to secure them. you are looking at the job numbers, they are not coming back. there needs to be something to make sure americans get through the rough patch. get americans back to work. it will be a nuanced balanced act that both sides will have to come together with. people are trying to do it in the senate. hopefully in the house they'll broker a deal that makes sense. >> thank you. lenny mcallister. former political analyst and commentator. joining us from pittsburg. always a pleasure. >> general motors is recalling 370,000 pick-up cup, the chevrolet silverado and g.m.c. sierra have a software problems that could cause engines to overheat. eight fires have been reported during cold weather. companies are warning customers

not to leave itemling trucks unattended. >> officials say people were found with grenades, explosives. the arrests made east of sochi, the site of the olympic games next month. >> a travel alert has been issued to americans planning to attend the games in russia. u.s. citizens should be on alert because of terrorist threats and crime. washington says it's not aware of threats, but large events like the olympics are an attractive target for terrorists. >> and speaking of sport, yankees slugger alex rodriguez is undaunted by his latest setback. mark morgan is here with a closer look. what is going on? >> he says all full-steam ahead. he's trying to get back on the baseball field.

yesterday's arbitration ruling was expected to reduce alex rodriguez suspension from 211 games to the entire 2014 even, 162 games, and post season games the post -- the yankees will play. where does he go from here? the good news for alex rodriguez is he won't have to serve the full 211-game suspension levied last august by the commissioner. the bad news is that he is suspended for a full-season's worth of games, 162 as well as the post season. major league baseball released a statement reading:

>> not surprise inially, alex rodriguez says he's unhappy with the ruling but not surprised. his statement reads in part: >> later alex rodriguez goes on to say: >> a-rod indicates that he's confident that a federal judge will overturn the inspection. sports law attorney things a

rod's confidence is misplaced. >> he'll have to demonstrate fraud, corruption or influence in order to overturn the ash trigs, it's not unlikely, but virtually impossible. >> assuming alex rodriguez sits out his suspension, he'll forfeit his salary for 2014. will he forfeit a comeback. that's a question the yankees will have to deal with as soon as spring training. alex rodriguez plans on showing up. according to the agreement the yankees can't stop him unless they cut him. that would be expensive. they owe him $61 million. if the yankees go that route, his career could end without getting the 109 runs needed or 300 hits needed to join the

exclusive 3,000 hit cloves. if this is the end he leaves without the achievements. he also leaves a legacy forever tainted. >> john henry smith, thank you. as mentioned, spring training is not included in the suspension, alex rodriguez has - he says he'll head to tampa in february to join the yankees there. >> maintaining innocence. >> talk about splitting the deal. south korea to pay $866 million to keep u.s. troops on the ground there. the agreement fol scros a series of -- follows a series of military threats from north korea. the u.s. and seoul will share costs on security measures for the next five years. the agreement must be approved by south korea's parliament. >> the disaster at fukushima sparks concerns that radiation could head to america.

does it pose a health risk. in the series return to fukushima. michael okwu cuts through the reports. >> this is as far as you can go before entering the exclusion zone surrounding the fukushima daiichi power plant. inside the tokyo electorate power company, or tepco is struggling to maintain the disaster. the japanese government says the situation is under control. we travelled here to find out whether that is, in fact, true or if the world needs to be worried. david mcneil has covered the fukushima disaster since it began three years ago. how serious questions do we have in japan? >> i think it's an ongoing crisis. have you had a series of ad hoc strategies designed to deal with the crisis. >> the headache comes from tonnes of of melted fuel in

reactors one, two and three. >> they have the vaguest idea of where the moulten fuel sit. they have to keep it cool with water, if not, it heats up, radiation escapes. >> a constant flow of water is necessary to keep the melted down uranium cool. tepco built thousands of tanks to store the water. they are running out of space. >> it's a forest of tanks, there's over 1,000 of them. >> then there's the ground water. the power company admitted that contaminated groundwater is flowing into the pacific at the volume of an olympic-sized swimming pool each week. this day luge worries americans. this map shows radiation from

fukushima spreading through the pacific. this professor is a sign shift the the meteorological institute of japan, studying the spread of radiation from nuclear tests, and now studies fukushima. what the people in the united states wants to know is when the water will reach u.s. soil and what would you say, based on your calculations. >> in may, april and may 2011, about one year after the accident, that means march 2012. the prove store calculates that the radiation will sink and decay after decades. as currents turn to asia and the indian o. >> i think the people in the western coast are safe.

>> because tepco captures most of the contaminated groundwater. few areas outside of fukushima are affected. >> simply saying the safe route expected from the activity in the sea water is only 2%. i eat the seafood every day. >> that scary graphic is an altered map showing the superstorm sandy's path in 2011. american officials say there's no evidence of unsafe fish in the american food supply. it's reassuring, but all bets are off if tepco doesn't come up with a long term strategy to plug the leaking plant. >> in a final instalment michael okwu shows us the massive effort to get the nuclear reactors online. >> the family of a teenage boy who died stopping a suicide

bomber in pakistan will receive a high medal of honour. 15-year-old aitzas hassan chased a suicide bomber and tackled him to the ground outside school gates on monday. more than 200 classmates were inside. aitzas hassan was killed when the bomber detonated his desk and the prime minister's office said his family will receive the star of bravery. >> coming up, we'll tell you about one of the greatest film schools. it's nowhere near hollywood. >> and i'm tracking a wintery mass in the pacific north-west. i'll show you how it will impact your travels through the reege jog. -- region.

good morning to you. welcome back to al jazeera america. there's more snow on the way for parts of the west. so let's bring in our meteorologist eboni deon. >> it certain is. we'll see plenty into the mountains and snow into the north-east. we dealt with the rain and the widespread wet weather across the north-east.

that has cleared the coastline, and we'll draw out most locations, a little snow across upstate new york. into the upper mid west, the same storm system moving east ward and spreading a little. i-94 will be impacted. here is where the active weather is. there's a stream of moisture moving in across washington and coastal areas. that will keep us wet. high elevations, talking snow seeing a foot into the cascades. >> a third of the bee population has been lost in europe. the unseasonable hot weather caused bees to come out of hibernation. this could have major ramifications. >> first thing every morning this bee keeper checks the temperature. there should be snow on the ground. 10 degrees in january.

that's too warm. his bees think it's spring, so they leave the hives. >> translation: they shouldn't be outside, it's too cold. i try to warm them up, i care for every one of my bees. >> the bees are going out in search of food and laying eggs as if spring had sprung. if it suddenly turns cold now, they'll be in trouble. >> translation: if winter comes back again, which it probably will, the weaker bees won't be able to warm up the colony and will die. many will never lay their eggs at all. >> the situation has croatian officials worried. >> translation: right now we don't know what is going on. we know some bee keepers have lost a lot. new keepers, old, big and small, something is happening, and we need to keep a close watch on it. >> it's a european problem.

in the last few years a third of the bee population has been lost. almost 7 billion bees. in croatia, according to the beekeepers association, 9,000 bee keepers with a population of 500,000. any significant loss in the bee population can have consequences to humans. they play a crucial role in pollinating an eco system's plant life. if the bee goes, our food ply will be under threat. >> it's like removing a brick from the bottom of a wall. the wall may stand, but it will not be as stable as before. >> the instability of the local climate is having an effect. in april when the spring arrives, they should know how serious the problem is.

>> so the weather didn't cooperate, but it hardly slowed down terrific n.f.l. play action. >> did you have a chaps to watch the game. the late game, we were snoring. >> i didn't make it. i was working. >> both games hard to throw the football. if you were a quarterback it was a nightmare. the afc game was billed as a showdown between tom brady of the patriots and colts andrew luck. the ground attack took the center stage, particularly the patriots. ley gar et blunt playing in his first play-off game. he was a one-man wrecking few 166 yards, 24 carries, four touchdown, the second most in an n.f.l. history. the paitry jots rolled over colts. new england advances and will

take on the winner. charges broncos game. >> it was a great win. great to be part of a team win. everyone contributed. the games get bigger. it will be a fun week to get ready. don't take it for granted. we'll play the best game next weekend. >> in the nfc the saint travel to seattle hoping to extract revenge for the thrashing in september. century link field battered by wind and rain, not kind to new orleans as it is to any visiting team. they were in full beast mode. 13-0, seattle second quarter. we move to the fourth, 16-zip. the first touchdown for the saints. like this, they are back in it. the saints will go for two, and mark ingram cashes in 16-8. we have a ball game.

the sea hawks back to 24, this is impressive. he's big, strong, fast. a 31 yard run. late in the fourth. 141 yards. seattle 15 and one at home, offer the last few seasons. 23-15 is the time. here is the schedule. the 49ers and panthers kicking off things 1 o'clock eastern in charlotte. they beat the 49ers. john carlos 7 and one at home. it will be interesting to see if both play the game. the broncos host the chargers. santiago the only team to beat the broncos. that's the look at sport. >> thanks so much. >> one of the world's great film schools in a place you may not expect in a small town in cuba.

>> at first sight it's difficult it under why the international school of film and television is highly regarded in the world of cinema. perhaps it has something to do with the vision in 1986 of its founders. the cuban states and fidel castro took a special interest in the founding of this school. that grew from the film festivals at the time and the latin american cinema. the founders create a school of three worlds, a play on the term third world, providing an education in cinema and television for students from latin america, africa and asia. >> the cuban school film has an exceptional reputation which means we try one way or another to come here. >> thousands of cubans and from 50 other countries passed through classes and workshops,

bringing cultural references before returning home with something of cuba's own unique influences. >> to have studied here means you have a family, a cuban film school family. we are all over the world since you go anywhere, find out who is from the school even if you don't know them. they are your friend. >> almost everything in cuba one way or the other is deemed political. the film school is no exception. one of its main challenges has been to assert its independence and not be used as part of the cuban government's campaign to counteract what it sees as the cultural dominance the united states through hollywood. >> after many years working in cinema, documentaries and television, the teachers return to the school and give something back, sharing what they know with the next generation of

makers. largy students have passed through the school, films screened at the savannah film festival and festivals around the world. >> and at the end of our second hour here is what we are following this morning - former prime minister ariel sharon's body lies in state to allow the public to pay its final release. a state memorial is planned for monday. a team of investigators is headed to west virginia trying to determine what caused the toxic chemical spill. >> and a call for calm in central african republic, as the new transitional government steps in. more news in 2.5 minutes.

>> thousands of israelis pay final respects to ariel sharon. >> thousands -- federal investigators emerge on west virginia. >> and calls for trophy hunting. >> trophy hunting and putting animals on display, that's wrong. >> outrage over killing a black rhino. >> good morning, welcome to al

jazeera america. i'm morgan radford live from new york city. >> thousands of israelis say goodbye to former prime minister ariel sharon. his coffin will lie in state for several hours, laid to rest at the family farm in southern israel. dignitaries are expected to attend the funeral and vice president joe biden will lead a delegation from the united states. nick schifrin joins us from jerusalem. explain to us where you are right now. >> this is the closest thing that israel has to the u.s. congress, and this is ariel sharon laying in state. we are outside the israeli knesset, the parliament. let me show you the crowds to the left. in the morning we saw a trickle of people. in the last hour more and more people have been coming in to pay respects to a man who perhaps more than anyone in the

last 50 years had a huge impact on creating the identity ofst rail. that is ariel sharon's coffin, him laying in state. he will lay in state until about 6:00 pm local. and tomorrow he'll be buried not in mt hurtzel where a lot of other prime ministers are buried but on the family farm in southern israel. the state requested he be buried on mt hurtzel but he wants to be buried on the farm. >> it looks like the crowd doubled since i spoke to you an hour ago. can you explain the motion that you are seeing there? >> yes, it's a sober feeling. the fast majority of people are here, are fans of ariel sharon. he was incredibly polarizing not only between israelis, and arabs, but society. most of the people that we met are supportive.

there was a young group of kids, students who say, "look, we didn't understand and support everything he did, but at the end he tried for peace." we met americans, israelis saying more than anyone else in the last 50 years he represented israel through its military, campaigns that he led and becoming a politician who was about to be re-elected as prime minister when he had the stroke six years ago, eight years ago. and was really on the way, perhaps, to making big bold decisions toward peace. at least that's what his allies say. he never got the opportunity to do that. we are in a new peace negotiation. a lot of people are wondering whether the current leadership can make the same bold decisions that ariel sharon is showing. >> nick mentioned how polarizing he is. many palestinians saw ariel sharon differently, perhaps as

the biggest road block. zeina khodr has more from a refugee camp across the border in lebanon. >> more than 30 years ago the streets were littered with mutilated bodies, dead people, women children, killed in the shabra and shatilla massacre. today people are celebrating, distributing sweets once learning of death of ariel sharon, the former israeli prime minister. he was defence minister in 1982. the israeli army was in beirut, they invaded, laid siege to the camp and said they were pursuing lib nation organise soldiers, but an ally of israel entered the camps and carried out the killing. no one is mourning his death, they are rejoicing.

they wanted to see ariel sharon taken to an international court and tried for crimes committed against them. that never happened. there were numerous attempts. a lot of survivors said ariel sharon's death would not change much. he was an israeli official. it's a state policy which they believed the israeli government will never allow the people to go home. hundreds of thousands want to go home in compliance with u.n. resolution, giving them the right to return. >> in iraq 13 people are dead in twin bombings targetting sunday morning commuters. the first explosion rocked a bus station in the center of the capital, killing nine. four died after a second bomb ripped through a group of buses and taxis in baghdad odds northern neighbourhood. no group claimed responsibility. there has been fighting with government forces. >> in an agreement reached

sunday, south korea will pay 866 million to keep troops on the ground. it follows a series of threats from north korea. the u.s. and seoul share costs op security measures for the next five years. the agreement must be approved by south korea's parliament. >> revelations from former defense secretary robert gates in his bombshell memoire. he says the obama administration tried to oust president hamid karzai four years ago. jane ferguson explains. >> it was an accusation often dismissed as paranoia. during his re-election campaign in 2009, afghan president hamid karzai accused the u.s. of trying to get rid of him. >> there were a lot of stories in the british media of plans in washington and london to bring a change, to weaken the central government and go to the strong

areas that they liked. >> now excerpts from the u.s. defence secretary robert gates's new book say it was true. gates writes angrily been president obama's special envoy, richard holbrook's attempts at approach, saying holbrook and others extended support to challenges. the presidential palace reacted with an, "i told you so." >> what secretary gates revealed in the book further proves the righteousness of hamid karzai's claims a that there were efforts to rid him. >> evidence of rigging votes in hamid karzai's favour was reported. inches by the obama

administration could discredit the election leaving the av fan people unsure who to trust. >> they don't believe anybody. the people of afghanistan have been misled so many times by so many players in so many ways that sometimes they have lost - at times they don't have sex confidence that is sufficient for a nation to act in their own interests. it's dangerous that we have depleted a nation from its self-confidence. >> revelationsful a possible u.s. inference in the last presidential elections come a few months before afghans go to the polls to vote for their next leader. hamid karzai warned against foreign manipulation, a warning that holds more weight. >> jane ferguson, al jazeera, kabul. >> gates is expected to hit the

talk show circuit. >> federal investigators are expected to arrive in wige -- wij -- west virginia to investigate the leaking into the river of a chemical. it made its way from there to a water treatment facility. >> we have to develop protocols and methods to assess the chemical, a nonregulated chemical that did not have an existing set of protocols. >> the national guard says they are working with the manufacture of the chemical to produce a testing method. they hope to complete testing on more than 100 samples. despite the uncertainty progress is made. >> it may come to show that if the numbers are found to be below one part per million, we

may not have this flush the area. the system is working, the trends in the right direction, and don't see a reason why we won't. fema brought 370,000 gallons of water to charleston and his nine surrounding counties. >> jonathan martin reports. >> with no clear time line for when tap water will be safe to use. thousands of west virginians are socking up on clean water. >> we've been using it sparingly. >> the federal emergency management sags si delivered 1 million litres of bottled water to the nine affected counties. >> things like getting up and washing the hair or simply things like being a baby with formula. it catches you offguard. >> i caught rain water to do the

dishes. >> it's impacting hundreds of businesses from restaurants to salons. many are forced to shut down. >> we have no idea when we are going to get a report that water is safe enough to use. >> steven blake is a hairdresser in downtown charleston. >> my clients come in, they want their hair shampooed or it's necessary to shampoo or water for certain services. charleston medical center is using two tankers. the hospital says it's enough to last a few days. nonemergency surgeries have been put on home. hospitals report a small number of patients come in complaining of symptoms relating to chemical spills. >> that was al jazeera's jonathan martin reporting from charlton west virginia. >> good morning to you. no need for the umbrellas across

eastern u.s. thanks to a frontal boundary that has cleared the coastline, it's the air moving in behind it that is blowing in over the lakes, giving away to the lake effect snow showers seen across upstate areas of new york. high pressure building in giving way to quiet conditions from the lakes to the golf coast, active into the north-west where there's a boundary on the move, creating problemsment still wintry weather is expected. and we are getting a persist ept on-sure flow, keeping the moisture in place. as we zoom into the north-east, he is a look at the snow. not expecting to see much as far as accumulation is concerned. we'll have moisture in place, and snow melt on the rain, and with that additional one to two inches of rain, flooding is a

con certain. here to the north-west. rain coming in down to the north-western coastal areas. it's where the snow will kick up with the wind and the blowing snow creating problems. this is a look at the summit. snow pack, chains required for trucks in the area. winds gusting up. they'll get great are as the day wears on. >> wintry mix handling over the pacific while floods hit the north-east. saturday a rough start where four tractor trailers and a car collided. in upstate new york an emergency crew uses a bulldozer to free 30 people, all trapped in their homes. weekend rains and melting snows creating problems throughout western new york. at the raceway, look at that, a slick track sent the starting

gate ploughing into the horses. despite the incident the horses are okay. >> calls to stop the bloodshed. a new transitional government in central african republic hopes to end violence. >> and hopes to bring the fukushima reactors online. >> why the prejudice government said this french comedian's act was no laughing matter. >> and comic works preserved as works of art.

>> good morning to you. welcome back to al jazeera america. i'm morgan radford. calls for calm as a transitional government takes over the central african republic, first let's have a look at what temperatures are doing across the country. >> it's going to stay a little on the mild side, but slightly cooler than yesterday. up and down the east coast. 44 degrees in new york. colder temperatures in place,

sitting at 29. certainly feeling above average in the upper mid west. not too bad for this time of year. 44 in toll son. another shot of colder air by the middle of the week. frontal boundaries shaping down, pushing to the east coast by the time we get into the weekend. here is a look around chicago. we are cooling down. it won't stick around long. tuesday in the mid 30, dropping to a high of 20 degrees by wednesday. >> now to the final instalment of our special serious "return to fukushima", and the massive effort to get the japanese nuclear reactors back online. >> this man was the prime minister when the nuclear nightmare began. >> translation: i had experts simulate a worse case scenario, showing how far the accident could spread. if conditions were to

deteriorate there were 50 million people within a 250km radius of fukushima daiichi. all those people would have to evacuate. >> the country and the world held their breath as the disaster that could have turned tokyo into a ghost town was brought under control. >> translation: we were walking on a knife's edge, wondering whether the worst case scenario would occur or not. >> the coast call caused the prime minister to reassess everything he believed about nuclear energy. >> while were prime minister in the middle of the crisis is when your view on nuclear power changed. >> a third of japan would have had to evacuate from the community. i came to believe that we should halt further operations of nuclear energy that entailed

huge risks. >> after leaving office, cahn made it his mission to rid japan of nuclear energy. the political movement he guilt caused all 50 reactors to come offside. the shock of losing nuclear power drove up electricity prices in japan. emissions spiked and japan has a trade deficit due to imports of fossil fuels. a japanese energy policy expert at the university of tokyo says japan's national security is at stake. it has no viable natural resources of its own to decrease dealing with the economic demands for electric power the conse equipmently the industry -- consequently the industry would like the reactors get back online. it mounted a drive to bring the

reactors online. shinzo abe joined forces. protests to turn on the reactors failed to persuade the administration. less than three years later, abe is promoting japanese nuclear technology and signed an agreement to sell nuclear reactors to turkey, the united arab emirates and india. >> japanese nuclear manufacturers received $50 billion in international orders last year, technology and reactor designs ensure that this time will be different. >> we learn a lot from what happened, and we apply what we think in counter measures to our tech until i so it is improving, to overcome events happening. >> for this man, the current

administration is learning the wrong lesson from the tragedy of fukushima. >> japan can supply sufficient energy without nuclear power. over half of japanese citizens demand that. whether or not that voice will be crushed will be decided in the next one or two years. >> who is likely to win the battle? >> i believe that in a not so distant future japan will stop using nuclear power. i believe that to be true. >> that was michael okwu reporting. for more tune in to "america tonight" week nights at 9:00 pm eastern. >> african envoys are in south sudan hoping to convince rebels to accept a ceasefire drill. the youngest nation has been drich driven to the bring of all-out civil war.

the two sides have been meeting in ethiopia since tuesday, hoping to sign a peace deal. meanwhile the south sudan oil production fell by 45 barrels a day after oil fields were shut down due to the fighting. >> an operation to airlift thousands of african might ants started this weekend. as barnaby phillip reports from bangui, tens of thousands are trying to escape the violence. >> from a hangar on the edge of bangui airport are those wanting to get out of the gucountry. hundreds of muslims were here. this imam said his mosque was burnt down, parents murdered all by the christian militia, seleka. >> translation: they killed and hunt us. i didn't know where to sleep. i came to the airport.

my son and cousin, i don't know where they are - they all just run away. >> they are being registered for emergency flights to chad. that's where they'll feel safe, even though many were worn here in the car. >> we need more flights. we start with having enough money to start with around nine or 10 flights. we need more money. we are people everywhere. some are in bangui and others in the country. on the other side of the airport they can muster protocol. the state has almost collapsed. car's leaders back from the summit where the president stood down. getting rid of him was one thing. building a new government another. >> the returning politicians have an incredibly difficult task. over the next two weeks they have to choose from within their

ranks somebody who can unit the divided country where law and order broke down. it's not obvious that any of them has that capability. >> until then, this man is notionally in charge. alexandre ferdinand nguendet - he has to steer the transition at a dangerous time. and the muslim neighbourhoods of bangui, we found almost deserted streets. when we stopped - gun fire. in christian areas, they are triumphant over the downfall of president michel djotobia. there's more than a hint of mep as in all the celebrations. >> for more on the crisis in the central african republic as well as south sudan we joined from oxford by saloka, he's an expert

in desplace persons human rights. >> sanctions are being considered against specific targets in south sudan. is that enough? >> well, i actually don't think that that's enough. i think the most urgent thing to do is to attend to the horrendous needs of internally displaced persons numbering 200,000 and 940,000 in the central african republic. they have needs to do with shelter, hygiene, health, access to water. >> how are you reaching them to deliver the items? how are people getting to the people. >> it's what the u.n. has to do. i'm aware of the fact that humanitarian agencies at the moment scaled up the active oils, declared emergency at level three in the central african republic and they are present in huge numbers and

request something in the order of 150 to 2 million usd to meet the needs with regard to south sudan. the humanitarian coordinator and system working around the clock to provide basic needs to people who are sheltered in very inhumane conditions in u.n. comfunds where sanitation is lacking. >> we have seen this type of displacement before. how soon before something like this turns into another rwanda. >> well, the possibilities of something like this turning into another rwanda, where you have sectarian violence and political disputes such as those in south sudan take ethnic dimensions. ethnicity is not a factor. the factor are differences in

the political vision and transformation of the capacity, the government, to deliver and move along democratic lines. the huge presence of international community is an essential ingredient to presenting crimes against humanity and genosigh. >> hundreds of thousands of kids have been affected. how does that change the child and the prospect of peace against the country as the generation ages? >> the dangers are actually, i think, unpalatable because the children will constitute a future generation of leaders. when you have children who are traumatised, the entire upbringing and assumption of positions of authority and leadership will be influenced by

what they have experienced, and it's important at this point in time to stablilize the situation of children, to provide those orphans with basic services and access to education, and again i'm aware that at least in the central african republic unicef and local people are taking measures to make sure of that. >> thank you for joining us from oxford. >> coming up, bracing for showdown, protesters in thailand hope to topple the government and paralyse the streets of bangkok. >> i'm in colombus, i'll show you a museum that has the world's largest collection of comics and cartoons. >> alex rodriguez is defiant - the arbitrator's ruling and

reaction in sport.

>> good morning and welcome back i'm morgan radford, and these are the top stories in this hour: thousands of mourners say final goodbyes to former israeli prime minister ariel sharon. his coffin will lie in state for several hours and on monday he'll be laid to rest at the family farm in israel. vice president joe biden will lead a u.s. delegation. >> migrants stranded in the african central african republic. >> several investigators arrive in west virginia to look at the chemical spill into the elk river, leaving 300,000 residents without safety water. >> a shutdown is under way in thailand as anti-government

protesters vow to occupy key locations across the country. in what protesters hope will be a political force ending the deadlock gripping the nation. >> veronica pedrosa is in bangkok. >> as you can see from the activity behind me, the anti-government protests are mobilising to start a campaign called a bangkok shutdown. they want to bring the city of thailand, a great asian city to a standstill to try to bring down the government, of prime minister yingluck shinawatra, accusing her and her family of corruption and nepotism. the aim is to up seven key intersections across the city. already we are hearing on sunday night even though the plan was for the campaign to start on monday, three of those areas have already started to be shut down. the barricades are up outside government offices in an area.

there are two very busy commercial districts that are already shut down. it's expected to bring traffic chaos to the city. the government has put in place around 20,000 security forces to try to prevent any kind of law and order situation from going out of control. they have said they will not prevent the demonstrations from blocking the roads. there's an increasing worry that if there is violence or if things get out of control, the military could step in and start take over of the government, a coup, which has been a feature of thai history for decades. it will be interesting to see how the situation can be resolved, what is going to happen to this hub of regional hub here in thailand. and the effects on the economy. >> that was al jazeera's

veronica pedrosa reporting from bangkok, thailand. >> in spain thousands took to the streets saturday defying a court ban. demonstrators marched in the north in support of 600 gaoled members of the bath separatist group eta, accused of killing more than 800 people over four decades. a ceasefire was called in 2011, a full disarmament could come soon. secretary of state and top envoys are putting pressure on the main opposition group to attend peace talks in geneva. the goal to bring the syrian backed group face to face with the syrian government. although expectations for next week's geneva peace conference are low documents say it's the only hope to bring an end to the war that killed more than 130,000 people. al jazeera's phil itner joins me

from paris. what are the obstacles that secretary cary and other envoys face when convincing the syrian national coalition to come to the table. >> yes, this is clearly a very difficult process. this has been something that the international communicatee, the friends of syria, that 11 member group of which the u.s. is a part. they have been trying to get a peace process, to get people to sit around the table for some time. it's been a difficult thing to do. why has it been difficult. well, there are the obstacles - they are many, but primarily there are preconditions that have been floated by both sides that are non-starters. for the opposing side, the syrian national council would like some preconditions as to what is the status of president

bashar al-assad before they come to the table. of course, the syrian government is reluctant to make that a precondition. so, you know, they have to come to the table. it is widely recognised that they need to. they want things set up before they sit face to face, that the opposing sides are not willing to go. it's an impasse. hopefully we'll have word to diplomatic sources, notably within the u.s. delegation that there's cautious optimism, but this is a diprocess and has been going on for some time, even getting the two sides or these various sides to agree to the framework of what talks might be. it has been a difficult process. >> you mentioned the difficulties vouching the preconditions. what do you expect from the

meetings. do you think they'll have knack on the geneva peace conference coming up? >> well as i say that's cautious optimism that the friends of syria and the u.s. in particular will be able to persuade the national council to attend those meetings in geneva. if, indeed, they do, it would be a significant thing. that these - the warring parties sitting down around a table face to face. that's not happened before, and it's something that the international community has pursued for some time. that would be in and of itself a significant development. also we have to mention another issue here in paris, and that is aside from the friends of syria, the arab league, the groups trying to get the national council and the opposition to come to the table, we have the

president's russian delegation, and they have expressly said they'll support the government of bashar al-assad. on the sides - aside from getting the syrian elements in order, you also have to consider that the u.s. diplomatic effort to try to get moscow to make some changes in their position, because they are still a very strong supporter and ally for bashar al-assad. >> live from paris. thank you for being with us this morning. >> meanwhile, a controversial french comedian accused of aipt sem ittism is to unveil a new show on thursday. dieudonne respects the law. we covered the proceedings days ago and had this report. >> this was the moment when fans of dieudonne discovered the show would not go on.

there was disappointment and frustration. some people had travelled hundreds of kilometres to see the comedian, who who was has provoked strong rehabilitations. >> i'm not racist or anti-semitic contrary to what some parts of media wants us to believe. we are well behaved and there'll be no trouble. they are causing the trouble. >> arguments raged for days over whether the performance should be allowed to take place. first, the local council banned it, and a court ruled it could go ahead. that decision was overturned at the last minute. >> dieudonne has been convicted several times of anti-sem ittism. supporters say he's an aipt

establishment figure, making people laugh at the same time. >> the case has received international attention through the french footballer nicola anelka. here he is making the camelle salute, the trademark sign much dieudonne, linked to the nazi salute. the surprise at the decision to cancel the show is understandable. for a court to order a gagging order and so swiftly is unusual. the case of dieudonne raises important questions about the limits of free speech in france. >> and joining us now is emanuel saad a french and history professor at columbia university. can you describe the uproar around the canel gestures. >> it's an illusion to the nazi

salute. at the same time it is a gesture that has been presented by a lot of people who do it, perform it in public and online as an anti-system gesture. so it has a broader meaning, i think, for a lot of people. that's why it's controversial. at the same time as being anti-semitic it presents an anti-establishment and elite sentiment. >> what does the uproar around the controversy say about the political situation in for instance? >> it says it political situation is chaotic. people are chaotic. political lines are shifting. you have someone who used to anti-racist. now he's close to the head of the national front party, making a lot of anti-semitic comments in his shows. so you have a - i would say a

sense about the values, who believes in what and what are the correct values to have. >> dieudonne is an interesting figure himself. tell us about his background. >> so dieudonne is quite successful. used to be a mainstream stand up comedian, famous in the mid-1990s. his mother is french and father from cameroon. he played in the mid 1990s. in his show he made a lot of anti-racist commands and in local collection on an anti-racist platform. in the space of 20 years, you have - yes, 20 years, you have a shift from anti-racism to deep staunch anti-sem ittism. it's representative of a transformation of french public

opinion and opening up of censorship over racism. >> i find it interesting. earlier on he had a rationalized humour. he did his performances based on a race-based humour. when he switched to things perceived as anti-semitic the country experiences uproar. why was the uproar there in the second part of the career, not the first part? >> it ceased to be funny. >> it ceased to be funny. >> yes. in the 1990s he was going a show with another man, a jewish man. they were in the show together for years and were well-known as a couple. >> thank you so much. french and history professor at columbia university, thank you for joining us this morning.

>> and yankees slugger alex rodriguez seems undaunted by his latest setback. mark morgan is here with a closer look. >> thank you. an independent arbitrator ruled that alex rodriguez of the yankees will be suspended for the 2014 season for abusing major league baseball's baseball's steroid policy. the suspension was reduced from the 211-game penalty. alex rodriguez will take his case to federal court and regardless of that outcome a-rod plans to attend spring training as a member of the yankees, not covered under the suspension. will a-rod play for the yankees. michael o'keefe weighs in. >> we will certainly send him to the minor league camp where the big leaguers help out. that might be humiliating to him, something he may not want o

do. tlel be discussions happening in the next couple of days, weeks, about what will happen once we hit middle of february and players return to tampa. >> weather affected n.f.l. play-offs, the afc billed as a showdown between tom brady of the patriots and colts andrew luck. new england hit the ground running and then some. the colts had no answer for ley gar et blund playing in his first game. he was a one-man wrecking crew, rushing 166 yards. blunt scored four touch downs. the second most tds in a game. the patriots rolled over indies. blunt, a 73 yard scamper. new england takes on the chargers for the afc

championship. the saints travel to seattle where howling wind pummelled the rink. running back marrion limping was in full beast mode. this is a yard rup made a 13 to nothing in control. we move to the fourth. they break the ice for the saints. new orleans will go for two. ingram takes the hand off. he is in. we have a ball game 16-8. seattle goes back to number 24 and lynch makes a pay-off. this is a 31-yard touchdown late in the fourth. he's gone. he had 140 cards on 28 carries. seattle advancing 23-15. >> two more games in charlotte.

a great example of each team's strong defense. chaar een williams on which team has the upper hand. >> the panthers are playing the us against the world no respect card. they should be because they are 2-point undogs despite being at home and coming off a buy and winning 11 of the last 12 games. this is the biggest thing, a 10-9 victory over the 49ers. the 49ers were saying, "we didn't have a full compliment of players. vernon davis left with a concussion. michael cap tree didn't play with an akillees injury. the 49ers feel like they are in better shape even though the game is on the road. >> in denver the broncos play the charmers for the third time. the team split the first two. the only home loss 27-20.

can the chargers do it again. >> i don't think there's a question. the charmers have a great chance to win. they'll not be intimidated. they know what to expect. here is the biggest thing. peyton manning has not won a play off since 2009. he won 20%, but has not been as good in the play off. 12 play-offs were someone and done. peyton manning has to figure out a way to score against the charmgers. he averaged 23 per game. >> they need to score point. watching the window close like tom brady, he has to figure out a way to get the team over the hump. >> here is the schedule after 1:00 pm. peating the niners. later in the day broncos host

the chargers. and they beat the broncos, that should be terrific. >> thank you so much. a licence to kill. a permit to the highest bidder for the right to slaughter an endangered black rhino. from the sunny pages to the museum, how comics transcend the world of art.

>> welcome back to al jazeera america. i'm morgan radford. comicts are now being preserved as works of art. we'll tell you about that in a minute. first a look at where the snow and rain may fall across the country. >> we are focussing attention on the north-west. this will be an active area over the next 24 hours as we see another system rotating in, bringing the rain onshore to the upper mountain west. a lot of the snow coming down around the cascades where we'll see eight up to 16 inches of snow, and more expected to fall

into the rockies, even to colorado, where we expect to see plenty of snowfall. >> a hunting club in dallas auctioned off a permit to kill a dangerous rhino in africa, going for $350,000 sparking outrage. >> space inside the dallas convention centre was at a premium as 45,000 hunting enthusiasts attended the dallas club convention. >> this is the single biggest fundraiser. >> jewellery, rifles and furs were available but this time an auction for the killing of a black rhino in namibia. >> trophy hunting, animals on display, it's wrong. >> the auction was inhumin. >> we need every one of these animals, not one to be taken occupant. the dallas safari club says

proceeds from the sale of the prment goes towards saving the species. >> a lot of people think wildlife exists. it's a managed wildlife. it costs money. namibia is a small country. they have 2.5 million people. they need money for the wildlife department to manage the wildlife and protect and increase the population of black ripos. >> carter convinced leaders of namibia to allow the sale of the permit because of money he'd bring into the country. >> this is the first time the permit was auctioned in the united states. >> the dallas safari club should give money to namibia. wayne purcelly, head of the club in the united states made the point on al jazeera. >> it may make sense to folks involved in trophy hunting, but

not in the grand scheme of things. the rhino that will be killed has become aggressive and threatening to other wildlife. >> others say the auction tells the world that an american will pay anything to kill their species. >> the san diego zoo has one less spanneder. you are looking at 4-year-old uge, sent back to china. he was born at the zoo. his parents are on loan from beijing. there is a deal allowing the chinese government to bring any pandas born back to china before their fourth birthday. >> snoopy and hobs can mind a home at a museum in ohio. we look at the largest collection of cartoon art in the world. >> reverently perched above the

ohio land-skype is a new home for cartoons. >> this features a fight that took place in congress. >> ohio state university's billy island cartoon library and museum treats cartoons and comics the way the u.s. library speaks jeffer sop and jeffrey cossser. >> exhibits will be preserved and accessible to researchers. >> from class k comments to political cartoons. >> here is a fantastic franklin roosevelt. >> it's one part museum, one part university, where scholars around the world study weighty praccers of light, literature. >> there's scholarships on nv else. this is the material everyone

had. these are important visual artefacts of an era that need to be taken seriously. >> you came all the way from hanover. >> all the way from hanover. >> housed in the shelves of this volt are 45,000 books of cartoons, 67 shouz journals. a large collection of cartoons and comics. the british satirical magazine included the first calvin and hobs collection. >> we have everything saved. >> i like the peanuts. i do. >> it's timeless. the way it was draup, the captioning. it's time also. >> in the original drawings of dick tracy. the collection includes 300,000 original works of art. there would be more but the originals were tossed out.

now, a standard original by an artist by charles m schultz may be worths of thousands. an early one is priceless. the collection illustrates historical stereotypes. >> you can see there was a sensibility in terms of how we portray minorities. >> controversies drawn together in a new home of their own. >> the archives are home to thousands of original sketches by jim borgman, the pulitzer prize-winning cartoon. >>. that will do it for this edition of al jazeera america. another news update after the break. pay no income taxes... >> we take you behind the scenes >> i'm rick santorum, i'm running for president...

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